Puck Daddy

Alex Ovechkin's new deal with Gillette, which was announced late in 2012 and runs through 2014, came with a slight update to the old one: he was allowed, on occasion, to have facial hair. Under the old deal, Ovechkin was expected to clean-shaven right up until the playoffs. But the new deal isn't quite as strict: The Capitals' winger is allowed some flexibility during Movember, as it will afford Gillette the opportunity to showcase their Fusion ProGlide Styler.

Ovechkin also shows off the merits of Gillette's latest advancement in grooming technology (the most important branch of science in our lifetimes) in his latest commercial -- which is also sort of insane.

Did I mention this commercial is best viewed on acid?

I don't really get this commercial. Some of that might have to do with the fact that I don't speak Russian. For those of you who do: are the ghost, the monkey on the security camera, or the disco fight any less bewildering in your language? I suspect not.

Also: Nice try, Gillette, but something tells me my razor won't pick out clothes that match my facial hair for me. And I suspect that, if I just run the razor straight up the centre of my face like in the commercial, it won't turn out that spectacularly.

According to the blog Alex Ovetjkin, Ovechkin has already filmed a number of new commercials with Gillette, so we can probably expect to see more ads like this pop up in the near future.

"The philosophy of Gillette is close to mine," Ovechkin has apparently said. I assume, then, that Gillette's philosophy doesn't involve back-checking.